A Toad's Dream of Eating Swan Meat

[A top who looks wicked and charming but is pure-hearted inside x a science-and-engineering guy who's wilder on the inside than he looks. Lust first, love later. A steamy story about two adults seducing each other into an affair, perfect bedtime reading. The sections marked with ellipses in the main text are on the author's Weibo.]

When Yan Xijue received Jiang Yiyou's proposal for a contractual relationship, he thought the guy must be crazy. Had he even looked in the mirror? What made an ordinary-looking man think he could reach above his station and land a swan?

But Yan needed Jiang's help, and the terms of the contract were extremely chaste. With a glimmer of hope, Young Master Yan signed it, treating it as a good deed to help an ordinary-looking older bachelor.

He thought he could make it through the contract by holding hands, but those three months were full of steamy fun, and they didn't miss out on a thing.

When the contract expired, Young Master Yan thought that if the other man suggested renewing it, he might consider it. Instead, the day after it ended, his former "partner" blocked him.

He went to wait for him outside his office, wanting an explanation. But the man didn't even look at him before getting into the car of another gorgeous hunk. The speed at which he'd fallen for someone else was astounding.

Why had the guy put up with it when Yan looked down on him, only to run away when Yan wanted to take their relationship seriously? Young Master Yan couldn't understand.

You can't just use me up and run away! You're renewing this contract whether you like it or not.

When Jiang Yiyou first met Yan Xijue, he thought the man was like a peacock, beautiful and flamboyant, the kind of person you saw and immediately wanted to claim.

As their relationship grew more "intimate," he thought the man was like an unruly little puppy, a virgin finally unleashed, more than he could handle.

Later, as feelings slowly entered the picture, he realized there was a little stray dog living inside that body, someone who needed love to save him. He'd gotten involved for Yan's looks, and he wasn't sure he could give him what he needed.

Later still, the man said he wanted to get serious with him, and he ran away.

He ran fast, and the other man chased hard. As they ran, he realized he might not be able to escape after all.

Content warnings:

1. 1v1, happy ending. The top is a virgin, the receiver is not. If that's a dealbreaker, please don't read.

2. The top has a longtime unrequited crush on someone, but they've always just been friends and nothing romantic ever develops.

3. The story starts from Young Master Yan's perspective and gradually shifts to Jiang's. It is indeed a receiver-focused story. The top isn't one-dimensional or a scumbag.

4. Neither character is perfect. There's a little groveling, but this is actually a sweet, mutually doting romance.

5. In addition to the romance, there's an underlying plot about their different identities, social standings, and careers. This plotline is what brings them together and drives them apart.

[Updates at 21:00. Come find me on Weibo and chat! My Weibo is Shuiboyuan. Please look up the sections marked with ellipses yourself. Sections 26, 29, 31, 38, and 54 have been added.]

[My next novel will most likely be "A Cannon-Fodder NPC Awakens and Stumbles into a Love Triangle"]. Here's the blurb. Please bookmark it:

Ye Wei is an NPC in an immersive BL game, responsible for playing various cannon-fodder roles in low-level scenarios.

After the System's routine cleanup, which happens twice a year, Ye Wei woke up in a new mission. The System sent him the script right away, and he clicked skip without loading it.

He'd acted out the same script countless times. He knew the plot by heart, so there was no need to load the whole thing and take up space in his computer brain.

Ye Wei played the cannon-fodder receiver in "The Domineering CEO Falls in Love with Me." Because he looked somewhat like the CEO's white moonlight, the CEO kept him as a substitute for three years.

He was a tiny catalyst in the leads' growing affection for each other and only had a few minor scenes. He just had to do a few idiotic things, get slapped in the face in return, then make a humiliating exit.

Ye Wei dutifully followed the plot, but Jiang Muyan, the S-rank top playing the domineering CEO, broke character. He came out halfway through his shower and used words and actions to hint that Ye Wei should fulfill his duties as a kept man.

The moment he saw his acting partner, Ye Wei panicked. As far as he knew, Jiang Muyan hadn't taken a script for a lowbrow C-tier melodrama in ages.

Besides, they were in a squeaky-clean game where even kissing scenes had to be pixelated. How could there be an adults-only feature? The leads keeping themselves pure was standard practice. An unchaste top lead would be condemned and trigger content warnings.

Ye Wei's feelings were complicated. He had awakened because of Jiang Muyan. He'd fallen in love with the person he'd worked alongside in the game again and again, and gradually developed a sense of self. From a certain point onward, the System stopped clearing his memories, and he began to remember everything he'd experienced.

While fully conscious, Ye Wei repeated all kinds of idiotic plots countless times, and even suffered one unforgettable heartbreak. The person who had awakened alongside him and fallen in love with him was repeatedly reset by the System, fell for characters created by the System, and forgot Ye Wei.

After going through the same thing so many times, Ye Wei had long since grown numb. Now, Student Jiang was looking at him with less than innocent intentions. Clearly, another bug had cropped up...

Once, Ye Wei had wanted to escape the endless cycle with Jiang Muyan. Now, he only wanted to look after himself.

While juggling other scripts, Ye Wei discovered that Jiang Muyan wasn't the only protagonist to break away from the plot. Several other S-rank tops were starting to go off-script too.

Ye Wei was numb: Could they all just stick to the script? If their awakening progress bars aren't filled, they might as well not awaken at all. Dragging things out will only slow down my escape.

Theme: Outer beauty isn't everything. Inner beauty is what truly matters